Blog ≫ 2024 ≫ Winter holiday to Marrakech part 1 - flight etc
In case it is not clear by now, in case I did not give too many clues, we were away in Marrakech between Christmas and New Year. Never done a trip like this before, we did the pre-christmas trip to Germany last year but that was different. An actual holiday? Like in the summer? But in the winter? Crazy talk.
I did some dictation type stuff on the day we left so we can start with that:
5am start today, boxing day. This after sleeping super badly, we both did. Mind whirring all night, partly with the excitement of Christmas and the guilt of not video calling mum and Dad on the day (I thought they were supposed to let us know when they were free), and a little with what is likely to go wrong on our holiday. Which is starting now! As I write this first bit, we are delayed on the runway waiting to go to Morocco. Never done a holiday like this at Christmas time before. It's a bit of a rush but it should be good.
We booked it quite spontaneously through Expedia. I can't recommend this really. They book the parts, and that was ok, but they booked easyJet for the flights, but then you have to pay extra for your bags. Ok everyone knows this but it's not like the flights were 50p1... At some point easyJet moved the flights by a few hours, but this did not move our airport transfer. So Xmas day I'm trying to fix this, no did not, but then boxing day morning at the airport we might possibly have. Will find out when we get to Marrakech.
Easy drive up, slight panic when the suitcase wouldn't fit in the car but we got there.
Genuinely would not fit properly in the boot, big case, small car boot, I could not shut the boot. A bit of wangling and we made it. Clare insisted on a giant case for her and the boys, plus bags. I am not sure it was all needed, but she did have toiletries and she did not wear the same t-shirt for four days like I did.
Then clear roads to Gatwick. Twice round Gatwick trying to find the meet and greet parking, but I think the directions were good and it was just user error. Meet and greet parking through Holiday Extras, remember them?
I called it "valet parking" a couple of times, this is not that though. This is the one where you drive your car right up to the terminal, to the drop off bit, and someone takes it from you, and you just walk into the terminal. It still makes me feel like a bit of a player, but it's not the valet option where the car is cleaned for you while you're away.
As I say the flight slightly delayed, but that seems to have been scheduled in.
I think I could have got away without paying for extra baggage, there is room in this plane.
Oh yeah I think I am the master packer, and right up to christmas eve I was squeezing everything into the laptop bag. I think I have some previous content that is hidden, that I can now unhide again, now we are back and you are unlikely to rob my house. Anyway my issues were 1) is my normal bag too big to be my cabin bag? Technically it is, but when we got to the airport and to the plane I think I could have got away with it, squeezed it in. So I did not need to take two bags, could have got away with one. Then I would be sixty quite less overdrawn than I am now that I write this, now that we are back, and the trip is over. I think I could have taken my normal bag, it would have fitted into the easyjet bag sizer, and there is also plenty of room in the overhead lockers. I'm not quite so anti easyjet as I was before we went when I was worrying about this and we were paying all the extra. If you take too much you should pay. You just have to know "when they say a bag this big, you can probably get away with a few cm bigger".
I even have two free seats next to me, I could lay down.
Indeed I did lie down but I could not get comfortable. There were three seats either side of the aisle on this plane, Clare and the boys sat one side and I had one to myself.
Only three and a quarter hour flight, we're about half way, and I can see mountains.
I will be back with more content, this is all I dictated on the day. Spoiler, the plane passed the mountains, reached Morocco, landed successfully, and the holiday was achieved. I mean I am planning to be back with more content but it doesn't often work out does it, I will be out of enthusiasm for this before we get to the end of this.
Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze, 6 - 10℃ (here back at home as I write this after the event).
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